Was the show really just a giant set-up for publicity and fame? Lauren Burnham and Arie Luyendyk Jr. finally ended up together after a brief detour involving Arie's ex-fiance Becca Kufrin, but was something already happening between them before they "met" on The Bachelor?

Lauren posted a photo on Instagram last weekend celebrating her "anniversary" with Arie.

She captioned the photo from the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas, "Met this stud here exactly a year ago today." Considering that The Bachelor -- where they supposedly met -- didn't start filming until last fall, fans were quick to wonder what the heck she was talking about.

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Although it actually has been discussed on the show, it was brand new information to a lot of people in the comments section.

Here's what's interesting about Lauren's post though -- we previously thought that the two had met a "long time ago," but a few months before going on The Bachelor together hardly counts as long ago, in our book.

Lauren greeted Arie out of the limo with a framed photo of the two of them, so obviously we knew they had met before.

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An insider confirmed in March that the lovebirds ran into each other at a race in Dallas "a long time ago." They explained, "Lauren and her friends went to the races because her friend was watching another guy. They went into the pits and took some photos with Arie and [joked] around with him. They laughed and talked for a few minutes."

We're just saying that it changes things when the actual timeline turns out to be much more recent than we thought. Is it possible that these two were secretly dating before going on the show, and the whole thing was just a ruse for attention? If so, poor Becca! Or if we're going to go full conspiracy theory here -- maybe she was in on it too to guarantee her spot as the next Bachelorette.

OK, Arie and Lauren likely weren't actually dating before going on the show.

Besides, wasn't he dating Sydney Stempfley at the time? You know, the woman he allegedly broke up with to go on the show in the first place? Then again she was also the one to say, "The show would be perfect for @ariejr up until it comes to choosing just one," so it's possible he was dating both.

Whatever happened in Arie's past, it looks like he only has eyes for Lauren now. Let's hope it stays that way -- she deserves to be happy.